


shooting stars never fly for me

by wwhatthehonkk



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Author is a Clay | Dream Apologist (Video Blogging RPF), Callahan is mute, Dreamon, Gen, Ghost Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, cries, dnf are soulmates, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:08:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29430039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wwhatthehonkk/pseuds/wwhatthehonkk
Summary: dream had been executed almost a month ago—so why is he standing in the middle of the community house and why is his body so translucent?
Relationships: Cara | CaptainPuffy & Clay | Dream, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream (Video Blogging RPF) & Everyone
Comments: 9
Kudos: 254





	shooting stars never fly for me

**Author's Note:**

> my biggest flaw is being a dsmp!dream apologist.
> 
> also the egg doesnt exist in this..... i was halfway thru this when i realized i'd forgot abt it........

sapnap tightens his grip on his axe. he grimaces when he remembers the weight of it as he swung it down viciously to meet dream's vulnerable neck. he shakes the thought out of his head. what's done is done. dream deserved it anyways—with his evil doings and cruel behavior. he's taking a walk through the smp when he nears the community house. it looks different now.

he couldn't deny the dull ache in his heart when he saw it in ruins the last time. he heard that puffy had rebuilt it a few days after dream had been put in prison. he thinks it looks nice. it isn't that different from what it used to be, but it just looks like they've erased what memories he had with dream and george in it. he decides to walk towards it to check it out. he hasn't been here in a while.

he can spot a figure when he stalks his way over to the entrance. his breath stops when he recognizes the green of the hoodie. the figure turns around and sapnap is met with an unfamiliar freckled face and emerald eyes. the man grins and his eyes crinkle up. "sapnap!" he says.

it's _dream._

what?

sapnap can't even move when dream jogs over to him. "wow, i haven't seen you in a while," he laughs as he stops in front of sapnap. "so, who renovated the community house? it looks good!"

his mouth opens and closes in search of a response. he doesn't even know what to say. he observes dream closer and realizes that his body is translucent. he can see through it. what is going on? after a while, a word finally slips through his lips. "how?" dream gives him a quizzical look. "how— why are you here? i killed you! everyone saw me kill you! they were all at the execution!"

dream makes an o shape with his mouth. "well, yeah, i know that much too," dream giggles. _why is he so calm?_ sapnap thinks. then: _when's the last time i've heard him laugh like that?_ he wants to cry. he had gone months watching dream go slowly intoxicated with power. and now he just shows up like it's nobody's business and lets out the most carefree wheezes that sapnap misses too much.

"but i didn't know _you_ killed me," dream says between his laughter. "i don't actually remember much. wow, this is how ghostbur must feel."

"i have to tell everyone..." sapnap says lowly, but dream had caught it.

"oh yeah! how is everyone? does george still sleep for half a day? i heard ranboo has, like, these crazy silk touch hands. and apparently tommy is opening a hotel?" dream bombards him with questions. sapnap looks at him incredulously before entering a message in his communicator.

_come to the community house. everyone._

_please, it's urgent_

some people reply with question marks and some tell him that they're on their way. sapnap knows they'll all come anyways. he tells dream not to go anywhere as they wait for everyone to slowly gather. in a few minutes, the entire smp is crowded inside the building, all of them giving throwing questions at sapnap. he sighs before shushing them all with a palm held out. he doesn't know where dream went, but he's sure he's close.

"dream, come out. i know you're there," he calls out. dream slowly emerges from the floor next to sapnap's feet. "hello!" he greets.

sapnap still has to will himself from looking away. he can't believe the first time he gets to see his best friend's (can he still call him that?) face is when he's goddamn dead. dream had worn the porcelain mask on his face even in his final moments. the room fills with tension as their minds process the ghostly figure that stands before them. "dream?" puffy's whisper is the first to break the silence.

"puffy!" dream says back. her eyes widen and her hands fly to her mouth. her fluffy ears go down slightly as her eyes start to become glassy. dream shifts slightly from where he stands, clearly uncomfortable in the current atmosphere. "uh, puffy? you alright?"

george runs from his spot at the back of the crowd and tackles dream onto the floor with his hands on dream's neck. "what the fuck, dream?! what is wrong with you? why— why would you—" he chokes on his words and a pained expression crosses his face.

the grip george has on dream's neck loosens when sobs start to wrack his body. the blond brings a hand up to hold george's wrist. "hi, georgie..." his voice softens. dream always had a soft spot for george. "i'm already dead, you know? choking me isn't gonna do anything."

the brunette balls his fists into dream's hoodie. "i hate you... i hate you so much," he coughs out weakly.

dream furrows his eyebrows. "okay." he brings his other hand up to pat george's back slowly. george's entire body collapses at the action. he just missed dream so much. "i'm sorry for whatever i did, george. i love you. but, i— i don't really remember much from when i was alive, so please forgive me..."

the blond slowly guides george up from the floor, but keeps him in a warm embrace. eventually, confused whispers and raging questions get thrown around the room. dream's figure grows smaller under the accusatory glares and harsh comments. sapnap realizes this and grows defensive despite telling himself over and over again over the past few weeks that dream isn't his friend anymore. "calm down," he says loudly. "he can't remember shit if all of you yell at him like this."

he pinches the bridge of his nose. "okay, why not everyone that doesn't have any tight correlation with dream leave first. you can ask him questions some other day."

everyone slowly trickles out of the building. ranboo looks contemplative, but he leaves when techno pats his shoulder with phil following right behind them. at last the only people left in the room are dream, george, sapnap, puffy, tommy, tubbo, sam and callahan. sam hadn't wanted tommy to stay, but the blond boy is as persistent as ever. the older man gives in and stays with him.

dream looks more relaxed when two dozen people aren't throwing daggers at him with their eyes. george had pulled away from him by now, apart from their loosely intertwined fingers. puffy is the first to step forward. she wipes the tears in her eyes with the back of her hand. the sound of her boots tapping the crafting table floor is deafening. "what happened?" she croaks out. "why did you go insane? was it my fault? please, answer me, dream."

the blond parts his lips slightly. "i— i'm sorry. i really don't know what you're talking about, puffy."

they all knew better than to tell him what he had done when he was still alive; all the pain and suffering he had caused. this isn't that dream anymore. this is more like the dream that had built the community house back then. sapnap sighs. "can you tell us what you remember?" sapnap asks cautiously.

dream nods and tells them what they want to hear. his memories are even more muddled than wilbur's. he remembers so little. all he knows is that he started this smp along with george, sapnap, callahan and sam. he remembers clearly up to when l'manburg had been founded. from then on, his memories are a blur to him and he doesn't even seem to know about how what's left of the nation is the bedrock flooring of the world.

 _"do you want your armor and weapons back?"_ callahan signs to him. dream shakes his head frantically as he steps back. he looks scared. everyone in the room has the same thought running across their mind. dream never left without his armor and a shield in hand. he always had his large menacing axe strapped to his back. _"what about your mask?"_ callahan asks.

dream's hand flies up to his face, his fingertips grazing his cheek. he was unaware of the absence of it until now. he laughs nervously. "i guess i don't really need it now, do i?"

"why are you scared of nightmare?" sam questions with a sharp look.

_nightmare_

nightmare is the name of all of dream's weaponry. everyone felt uneasy every time the messages portraying its bloodshed popped up in their communicators.

'_____ was slain by dream using nightmare'

'_____ was shot by dream using nightmare'

'_____ was killed by nightmare trying to hurt dream'

"i don't know..." dream says weakly. "where is it?"

sam looks out the window. "it's in pandora's vault."

dream nods, but he looks terrified. "is pandora's vault the obsidian building?" he asks meekly. he had felt extremely sick when it was anywhere in sight, so he had a good hunch for what it housed.

sam is taken aback. he doesn't remember the prison he was so insistent on building?

"i'm sorry," he apologizes again. "for whatever i did. i'm sorry i can't remember."

george and sapnap want to scream and cry. the apologies are too much. they sound _so_ genuine—they sound like dream. and the man doesn't even know why he's saying his sorries. it reminds them so much of when times were simpler. when they didn't have to worry about war plans and preparations to fight for their own will. when dream still welcomed anyone into the smp as a place where they could live peacefully.

just then, dream abruptly doubles over. his fingers are clutching the strands of his hair with a tight grip. everyone takes a step back while sam reaches for the hilt of his sword. sapnap gestures for him to stop and george tries to calm dream down. the blond ghost lets out cries of pain and agony. tears are now wetting his cheeks and a deep red blooms on the collar of his hoodie. dream lets out small whimpers of 'help', 'it hurts' and 'please stop'.

george tries to pry dream's hands away from his hair and callahan is kneeling in front of him, gripping his shoulders firmly. it takes a few minutes for dream to calm down. his heavy breathing fades into short shallow breaths. they give him a few moments until he manages to stand on his own two feet alone. "what was that?" sam asks, stepping in front of tommy.

the veins all over dream's body are glowing purple. "nightmare," dream supplies. "it does that sometimes. i guess even when i'm dead too... it never left my head. it wouldn't even allow me to have certain memories."

puffy clenches her jaw. "why didn't you tell us? why didn't you tell _me?_ " she begs.

dream looks down at his feet. his fingers fiddle with a loose thread at the hem of his hoodie. "i— i just didn't wanna worry any of you. i thought i could deal with it myself. and it said that if you guys were to find out about it, it'd kill you..."

"then why would you tell us now, dickhead?" tommy spits out. "do you want us dead? we issued your execution after all," he accuses.

"nightmare needs a living body to control. i am not that anymore. it can't do anything on it's own, so i can bet it's safe to let it out now," he explains. "it won't possess you guys. it's attracted to power. the most likely person it would do that to is technoblade. however, he already has the voices; i doubt that they'd let nightmare near him."

"hold on," tubbo interjects. "is this the thing fundy and i were dealing with a few months back?"

dream nods. tubbo purses his lips in thought. he'd never thought it was this serious. he tries to think back if there was anything he could have done to prevent all of this from happening. the impromptu meeting is ended with puffy and her arms wrapping dream in a tight hug. she looks like she's afraid to let him go—like he'd run off and destroy people's lives again if she let go.

they all agree on letting dream stay with george at the moment. he can't really do much anyways. he's dead, after all. yet ironically, his body seems so much more fluid and relaxed now compared to when his shoulders were still carrying the weight of netherite armor which made his movements frigid and calculated, like a robot. like he wasn't _alive._

if george is completely honest, he had been nervous about letting dream stay with him. he just couldn't help volunteering to take him in into his humble abode whilst a mutual decision between the entire smp is to be made. he doesn't regret it now, when he witnesses his best friend sitting at the edge of a pond with his jeans rolled up and feet soaking in the clear water.

george had been the only person to ever lay an eye on dream's unmasked face. it was before they even founded the smp. he doesn't even look that different from back then. he just has a few extra scars littered on his skin here and there, but he adorns the same endearing freckles and contagious smile. it's a bit nostalgic, he thinks. it's like the extended time when dream hid his face behind a layer of porcelain was just a long nightmare. _how fitting._

there are times where george would catch dream pausing from all of his actions, just staring into the void. the veins around his neck and face would have that menacing purple hue that everyone dreaded. george had to pull dream back into reality sometimes. dream would always resurface with his eyes full of fear and pain. and yet he would apologize.

_"i'm sorry," dream breathes out. "it got to me again... sorry for being a bother."_

_george would stay where his feet are cemented onto the floor and watch dream's retreating figure morph into the walls of his house to get to the extra room he's staying in. 'it's not your fault,' george wants to scream. 'i don't think it ever was. at least, not now.'_

_george doesn't think he can do it. he had always been a coward. the lump in his throat is stopping him from doing so anyways._

george ushers dream out of the house a week after staying there. he tells dream that he should talk to the other members of the smp. dream is overwhelmingly anxious about it. he has been mindlessly digging his nails into his palms for the entire morning now. he's sure that if he's alive there would be tears in his skin and tiny streams of blood flowing out of them.

he can see a construction site when he walks down the prime path. it's situated near tommy's base. his body stiffens when he sees sam and tommy standing in front of it. sam is holding out a complicated blueprint for tommy to see, but the younger's eyes only scan it aimlessly. george squeezes his forearm in silent reassurance.

he takes a deep breath before stepping into the construction site with the brunette. to dream's surprise, they don't kick him off immediately. their guards are definitely heightened, but it's going a lot better than dream expected. sam instructs george to wear the safety gear required and waves dream off since he's a ghost. ghosts don't get hurt from falling scaffolding, right?

dream explores the half-built hotel and he's already impressed by it. when he's ready to leave, tommy extends an invitation to him to attend the grand opening of the hotel. as taken aback as he is, dream accepts it gladly.

they decide to go to snowchester next. tubbo and fundy are shoveling the snow obstructing the paths when they arrive. ranboo is somewhere in a distance moving grass blocks. tubbo welcomes the both of them cheerfully. dream is glad the tense aura they exuded from their last meeting is nowhere to be seen. the four of them are having friendly small talk when ranboo runs over and calls tubbo's name. he stops in his tracks when his eyes lay on dream.

the enderman hybrid mutters out a poor excuse and proceeds to flee the scene. dream knows that he probably deserves it, but it hurts. seeing people he thinks are his friends get so scared of him. there's a small pause, then: "don't worry about ranboo. i'm pretty sure he still has some things he'd have to overcome," fundy speaks up.

tubbo nods along. there's another quiet moment. "i can just, uh, move, you know?" dream laughs, but it doesn't sound anywhere near happy. "i can just go somewhere far and you guys don't have to deal with me... i don't even need anything anymore because, well, i'm dead. so..."

his feet shuffle on the snow beneath him. george sucks in a breath. "dream..." tubbo starts. the ghost readies himself for it. for them to ask him to travel off to undiscovered land where no one would need to see him. however, none of it ever comes.

"we despised you because of what you did to us. but now, we know it wasn't you. that it never was. and i'm sure a lot of us are sorry—sorry for not being able to notice it and help you through it. well, at least i am. and i'm sure puffy is." dream tears up at the mention of her. he wonders how she's coping. "what i'm trying to say is: what we went through was indescribably painful and we all thought it was you. a lot of us would need some time to fully heal from it, but we know it's not because of you anymore."

fundy hums. "tubbo's right. give it time, dream."

dream is summoned to the courthouse one day. he has been back on the smp for a little more than two months now, and a lot of people have been warming back up to him. puffy frequently visited to see dream and catch up with him. niki had visited george's cottage a few days back and delivered him some rare flowers and herbs. she was as friendly as ever even towards dream.

the blond is a little scared about this. why the hell would they want him in the courthouse? are they really going to banish him for good? he shakes the thought away when he steps into the room. sam, punz, tommy, tubbo and shockingly, techno is there. dream greets them with a small 'hello' before taking a seat.

"so, we have called you here today to discuss an important matter," sam announces. dream gulps. "it is regarding nightmare."

dream's breath hitches. punz starts speaking. "a book has been discovered in an abandoned structure far north. it contained many ancient secrets, namely about curses. techno, would you be so kind as to elaborate?"

the man in question clears his throat. "i was trying to find a woodland mansion with ranboo when we found this strange structure made out of a material we've never seen before. long story short, we decided to loot it, found a cool book and it has a detailed spell about how to get rid of nightmare."

"YEAHHH!" tommy yells. "we're going to make that bitch crumble!"

"YEAHHH!" tubbo joins.

"so what do you say, dream?" sam extends a hand. he pulls his gas mask down with his other hand. "wanna get rid of it?"

dream takes his hand and gives it a firm shake. "yes, please."

**Author's Note:**

> ISTG DREAM HAS TO HAVE A HUGE BACKSTORY THAT THEY HAVENT COVERED PLS IM GETTING SAD AND DESPERATE ABT THIS


End file.
